Sugimori
by youareodd
Summary: Takashi Sugimori is a 14 year old Pokemon Trainer and Skill Coordinator. Skill Competitions are a new concept based in the Hoenn region that test a person's bond and coordination with Pokemon. Rated T for violence, and mild language.
1. Takashi and Sakura

**Disclaimer**

I do not own the Pokemon games, manga(s), anime or card game.

If I, (for any reason) say that I do, please disregard that fact.

However, I _do _own the Pokemon Skill Competition idea, but others are free to use that if they like.

**Pokemon - Hoenn, Skill Extravaganza**

My name is Takashi Sugimori. My partner, Kabutops and I have always strived to be the greatest Pokemon Skill Head in the world. Pokemon Skill Competitions are great tournaments held to showcase a trainer's technique and ability. They're sort of like a mix between Hoenn's contests, and Johto's PokeAthlon. Kabutops, we've known each other since I was 3 years old. When I was two, I lived in the Kanto region with my family. One day I was in Mt. Moon, even though I wasn't supposed to be. I found a rock deep within the caverns. One year later, while visiting Cinnabar island, I learned it was known as a Dome Fossil. A man told me it was an ancient artefact, and he had recently developed a machine that could revive the fossil. Low and behold, Kabuto was born. We soon became best friends, and when I was six, we moved to Slateport City in the Hoenn region. This is where I discovered the wonder that is Skill competitions.

"Kabutops!" I said. "Hit it with your Slash!" The brown-plated scythed beast clawed its sharp arm at a 4-meter-tall stone slab, slicing it in half. The Pokemon rejoiced and danced around. "Good job, boy!" I pointed my Pokeball toward Kabutops and a beam of red light enveloped him. Soon, he was gone. I walked down the path, towards Mauville City. That was where the registration for this years Pokemon Skill Competition was. When I reached the City, I went strait for the Pokemon Centre, and healed my pokemon. It was getting late, so I decided to stay the night there.

I was sitting on the couch in the corner of the building next to Kabutops, when a girl with short bright-green hair walked up to me. "Are you a Skill Coordinator?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"My name is Sakura Akihiko." She said. "I'm trying to become a Skill Trainer, but I always come last place in all of my Competitions."

"What Pokemon are you using?"

"I've tried with my Dratini, and my Roserade."

"Good choices. Actually, they are _very _good Skill Competition Pokemon. I've been beaten by them myself."

"Have you got any tips?"

"What rank contests do you participate in?"

"Rank 4"

"Rank 4!? That's the Master League Rank!"

"I thought Rank 1 would be the Master League rank..."

"No, no. Rank 1 is the _easiest _rank. That's why it's also known as the beginner rank. Anyway, in phase 1, I'd suggest using Roserade to weaken the dummy with its poison sting, then finish it off using Dratini's Dragon rage"

"What about phase 2?"

"Not sure. Neither of the two have really _any _physical strength to destroy stone slabs. I'm just trying to remember how those that beat me accomplished it..."

"How about I catch a new Pokemon?"

"That's a plan."

"I didn't catch your name."

"The names Takashi. But you can call me Sugimori. Sakura, right?"

"Yep!"

In the morning, Sakura and I headed to route 111 to catch her a Machop. "I heard there are families of Machop on the mountain." I said. "They have incredible physical strength."

"And when they evolve into Machamp, they will achieve two times faster than they already do at their simplest form."

"Exactly." We started climbing the mountain, using Kabutops to help us. After five minutes of searching, we found two Machops wandering around a cave. I signalled to Sakura to sneak around the sub-mountain, containing the cave. When she was behind the Machops, I jumped in front of them. The two readied into a battle stance and charged at Kabutops. "Brick Break!" Kabutops jumped into the air and spun down on them, knocking them to the side. "Sakura, now!" She grabbed a Pokeball from her bag, and threw it into the air. "Come on out, Roserade!"

The Flowered elder appeared in between the now standing Machops, it's thorns sharp and tipped with poison. "Poison sting!" She ordered. Purple needles shot out of Roseades thorns, crashing into the two Machop, injecting them with poison.

"Slash!" I ordered. Kabutops rammed his Scythe-Arm into a Machop, then threw it into the other.

Sakura took another Pokeball from her bag. "Pokeball! Go!" She threw the ball at a Machop, it's body enveloped in red light.

The ball shook. Again. And again. And again. The circle in the ball's centre shone a bright red, and stopped shaking. I looked over at Sakura, who was bursting with excitement. She jumped 3 meters into the air. "I caught a POKEMON!" She ran over and picked up her newly caught Pokemon and put it in her bag. "Kabutops!" I said. "Finish him off with a Night Slash!" His Scythe-Arm became eveloped in darkness, as he swung it at the Machop, knocking it down the mountain. "Sugimori?" Said Sakura. I looked over at her.

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you have the championships to apply for?" My eyes widened and I jumped onto the back of Kabutops. "Kabutops, Go!" Kabutops jumped off of the mountain, and ran back to Mauville.

I arrived at the registration building, my heart pounding wildly. I ran inside, hoping I still had enough time. "I- I'm here to register!" I said. A seventy year old man was running the reception. "Am I too late!?"

"There's three spots left." he said with a smile.

"Oh thank god." I breathed a sigh of relief, and took a small break to regain my energy.

"Takashi Sugimori." I said.

"Excuse me?"

"My name. It's Takashi Sugimori."

"I'll just find your name in the system." The old man searched on his computer for a while and frowned. "Have you competed in skill competitions before?"

"Of course."

"We'll, I'm sorry. Your name is not in the system."

"Wha-!"

"I'm sorry. You _cannot _compete." I fell to my knees, trembling. My eyes started watering as my head jerked down in disappointment. "I'm just kiddin'!" My head shot up.

"What?"

"Your name's right here. Takashi Sugimori. _Unless _you're telling me that's not your name." He laughed and typed a little more on his computer. "There we go. You are now fully registered for this years Hoenn Skill Competition Championships!" I jumped up in excitement, laughing with anticipation. "Ok, this is how this years Championship is going to work. There are six Skill Sites scattered around the region. You must place first or second in each to qualify for the final. I'd suggest starting with the Lavarige Site. Also, you'll be competing in the single event. Meaning you can only choose _one _Pokemon for the entire event."

The next day, I was out on Route 112 practicing my Skills with Kabutops. "Brick break!" Kabutops raised it's scythe and it crashed down and sliced through the tall pile of bricks standing in front of him. "Smack down!" Kabutops jumped up and crashed down onto the remaining bricks, applying his full weight upon them. By the time he got up, there was nothing there. "Good job!"

"Sugimori, wait up!" Sakura came running down the path towards me. When she caught up, she bent over and tried to catch her breath. "Can I come with you?"

"Yeah. Just one question."

"Of course."

"Why?"

"Because you helped me catch a new Pokemon, and _win _a Skill Competition! Oh, that reminds me! Because the Pokemon around here are mid-levelled, like 20-30, Machop evolved!" She held out her Pokeball, and a tall grey man-looking Pokemon.

"Wait... You won a competition?!"

"Yep! A rank _2 _competition too!"

"Nice! Allright, then. You can come along."

"Where are we headed?"

"Lavarige Town. My first competition is held there."

"Watch out!" A skinny man with black hair came running down the mountain. He was chasing a green dog-like Pokemon. "Please catch Electrike!"

"Kabutops!" I threw my Pokeball into the air and Kabutops appeared. "Catch the Electrike!" Kabutops jumped into the air and landed in front of Electrike. "Smack down!" Kabutops released all of its weight on top of Electrike and picked him up. The skinny man bent over to catch his breath.

"Thank... You! My name is Genya Ito! That's my Electrike. Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm Takashi." I shook his hand. "Are you a trainer?"

"Yep! Got 3 badges! On my way to Flannery's gym!"

"I'm Sakura!" Said Sakura, holding out her hand to shake his. He looked over at her and Blushed. He grabbed her hand.

"Well hello there, fine lady!" Sakura tilted her head, blushed and let of a laugh. "So, Takashi. Care for a Pokemon Battle?"

"I _am _a Skill Coordinator, but I'm up for a battle any day!"

"This'll be a one on one battle, K?" Asked Genya.

"Fine by me!"

"Send out your Pokemon!" Said Sakura. Genya and I raised Pokeballs to the sky and threw them upwards.

"Kabutops!"

"Electrike!"

The two Pokemon glared at each other, standing still. "Start!" Said Sakura.

"Build up your Speed Kabutops! Agility!" Kabutops started running laps around Electrike, his figure blurring.

"Shockwave!" Electrike shot a beam of Electricity at the ground in front of it, a place where Kabutops was running. When Kabutops touched the Shockwave, it stumbled and fell onto its face. "Crunch!" Ordered Genya. Electrike charged at the injured Kabutops and bit into its scythe arm.

"Stealth Rock, Kabutops!" Kabutops tucked its limbs to its torso and a rain of boulders fell onto Electrike. It got up quickly and ran at Electrike to finish it off. "Brick Break!" Kabutops rammed it's scythe arm into Electrike without hesitation. It lunged back and disappeared inside of its Pokeball.

Kabutops danced around and ran over to me. "Great job, boy!" I looked over at Genya. "Good game!" He gave me a thumbs up.

Genya grabbed my hand and shook. "I'm off to Mauville before I beat Flannery, and you're going to Lavarige, so I guess we're going our separate ways!"

"I guess so! I look forward to seeing you again." He walked down Route 112, and onto Route 111. I stood, waving, until he was out of site.

"So, where we're we?" Said Sakura.

"I believe we were about to enter the Cable Car building to get to Lavarige Town."

We stepped onto a Cable car. There was another Trainer in there with us. We had a great view of Mt. Pyre from inside. The ride up the volcano took about 15 minutes.

We stepped out of the Cable car, now on top of Mt. Pyre. Sakura and I made our way south, into the Pyre Forest. "Look! A Spoink!" Said Sakura, pointing at the springed piglet. She tried to run over and battle it, but it bounced away in shock. For the rest of our time in the Forest, Sakura was disappointed that she missed her chance to catch the Spoink.

"Cheer up. Just think, there are also Rank 1 &amp; 2 Competitions at the Lavarige site too!" I said, patting her on the head.

"But I want to watch you!" We emerged out of the Pyre Forest, back onto Route 111, but now at the top of the many steep ledges blocking the way. We made our way into Lavarige town, into the Pokemon Center. "Tomorrow is my event, so I better get some rest!" I proceeded into the hotel area of the Pokemon Center and slept until the next day.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" Sakura was standing over me, giggling. "Your Competition is today! Don't you want to get ready?"

"What time is it?"

"Six AM!"

"Crap! My competition is in half an hour!" I jumped out of bed and threw on my day clothes. I ran out the door, stuffed my breakfast down my throat and went running out of the Center.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Sakura came running after me, knowing that if she didn't follow, she wouldn't be able to find the site.

**To be Continued...**


	2. Team Magma

"Welcome back, Pokemon fans!" The announcer was standing in the middle of the indoor stadium, spotlights hitting him brightly. "This is this years _first _Lavarige town Skill Competition event! Today, we have three Skilled coordinators!" A cheer from the crowd filled the room. Three dark figures emerged from the sidelines. "The first is a young lady from the Kalos region... She is..." The room went silent. "Yumika Suzuki!" Another loud cheer. "Our second competitor... A man from the Kanto region, but now lives here in Hoenn..." Silence. "Takashi Sugimori!" A spotlight shone onto me. My eyes are watering because of how bright it is. "And last, but _certainly _not least... The young man from the Sinnoh region..." The last silent moment of the night.

"Ushio Tanaka!"

"Audience, Coordinators," said the announcer. "Let's begin the event with the classic Phase 1! A tower of bricks!" A curtain shifted, and revealed three towering stacks of clay bricks. "Coordinators. Please show your Pokemon. Note this, the Pokemon you choose now _must _accompany you throughout the rest of the Championship." I raise my Pokeball. The two on either side of me did too. We simultaneously threw them upwards, revealing our Pokemon. Suzuki was using Azumarill. I used Kabutops. Tanaka used Staraptor. "Begin!"

"Brick break, Kabutops!" I called.

"Staraptor, slice 'em with your Arial Ace!" Ordered Tanaka.

"Use Hydro Pump to weaken them, then shatter the rest with Double Edge!" Suzuki called. Kabutops jumped up, and crashed down on top of its pile of bricks, shattering each one easily. Tanaka's Staraptor flew sharply upwards. It then completed a well executed Arial Ace attack, destroying the bricks. No remnants were visible. The crowd went wild. A powerful shot of water came spurring out of Azumarills mouth, toppling the bricks over, and chipping them. It then threw a punch and charged at the bricks. A cloud of smoke appeared, and when it faded, no bricks could be found. "According to the crowd, I think Ushio has won this Phase! But don't worry Takashi and Yumika, there's still three more left!"

"Get ready for Phase two!" The crowd roared with excitement. Three giant stone slabs rose from the ground in front of the Pokemon. "The master of Strength tests... The slab challenge!"

"Go!"

"Smack down!" I ordered to Kabutops.

"Double Edge!" Called Suzuki. A confused set of cries came from the audience. They were wondering why she used the same attack twice in a row.

"Fury Cutter!" The three Pokemon charged at there targets at the exact same time, as if they had planned it. Kabutops tucked its scythe arms to its torso, until it had reached the slab. It jerked them into the slab, knocking it over. It them released its full weight onto it. The crowd was as if a man had just died in front of their eyes, but in a good way. Azumarill's Double Edge was the same as last time. Leaving the crowd silent with disappointment. Star avian cut the slab into four pieces using its wing. It then crashed down onto them, leaving them virtually invisible. The crowd roared.

"I believe Mr Sugimori has won this round!" Said the Announcer.

"And finally, the _true _test of Skill." The Announcer pointed to the ground, and it parted, leaving just a Stadium field. "A Pokemon battle!" I was surprised. No competition I had ever entered had featured one. It was a good thing I had trained Kabutops for more than just Slabs and Bricks. "This will be a three-way battle! Each Trainer using there one selected Pokemon!" The three of us walked to separate squares on the stadium with our respective Pokemon. "The rules are simple, status conditions are allowed, items are not, excluding held items!" We braced ourselves.

"Begin!"

"Staraptor, Double team!" The black bird created six copies of itself, all lapping around Kabutops.

"Rapid spin!" I called. Kabutops held out his scythe arms and started spinning, knocking the real Staraptor into the wall. Suzuki was stalling. She was going to wait for Tanaka and I to tire each other out, and then strike. The two of us looked over at Suzuki, looked back at each other and nodded.

"Kabutops, Hyper Beam on Azumarill!" I called out. Kabutops jerked its head back, white particles gathering around his mouth, forming a ball of light. A few seconds later, a beam emerged from the ball and struck Azumarill. It shot back, cracking the wall.

"Staraptor! Sky drop!" Staraptor shot over to the injured Azumarill and picked it up by the ears. It carried it to the ceiling and then dropped it to the ground.

"Finish him off with your Giga-Drain Kabutops!" I said. Two indents opened in Kabutops' back. It bent over, and green spores started emerging from Azumarill, and making there way into the indents. Azumarill fell over, slowly, and hit its face hard on the ground. "Azumarill is down!" Said the Announcer. "Bad luck, Suzuki. You're out!"

I looked over at Tanaka. She was planning his attack on Kabutops. "Go, Kabutops! Rock Slide!" I said. Kabutops stomped the ground hard, and a dozen large boulders arose, and shot at Staraptor, imparting its flight.

"Roost, Staraptor!" Said Tanaka. Staraptor got to the ground, and made an unusual stance. The wound on its wing started to heal, and it got to the sky once again. "Now, Brave Bird!" It got as high as the ceiling, it then started glowing many different colours at once, and charged at Kabutops.

"Go! Aurora Beam!" Kabutops shot a powerful long icicle from its mouth, missing Staraptor. "Try again!" It did the same, and this time it hit. But this did not stop its attack. It hit head first into Kabutops' chest, injuring him badly, but keeping Startaptor safe. Kabutops started making injured grunts, struggling to stand up. He then eventually fell to the ground.

"The winner is Ushio Tanaka!" Said the announcer.

I stood there staring at Staraptor, dancing around, celebrating it's victory. I fell to my knees. The crowd was screaming for there favourite Coordinator, Tanaka. I raised my Pokeball and Kabutops returned inside. I walked out of the stadium, the cold buzz of defeat drowning the audience out. Sakura came running after me. "Hey!" She said. I didn't look over. "Sugimori!" I walked into the Pokemon Center in silence. I had the Doctor heal Kabutops, and I then went back to my room.

Sakura entered shortly afterward.

She sat on the bed next to me. "Hey, it's ok." She said. "It's only one loss. You'll do better next time." She shuffled in closer.

"But what if there _is _no next time?" I said, staring at my Pokeball in front of me. "What if this is the last competition I ever do?"

"Why would that happen?"

"I'm a failure, Sakura. They didn't cheer for me _once_"

"What about your Smack down on the Stone slab?"

"I'm _pretty _sure they were anticipating Tanaka's next move."

"What? Don't think like that! They were cheering for _you_. Not some washed up Sinnoh has-been!" I sat up.

"Can you just leave me here for a while?" Sakura got up and walked into the main Center.

I lay there for hours. At around 3:30 PM, a crash in the Center got me up. I ran out to the main room, where a group of men in red hoods, with black horns stood. "Team Magma!" I said.

"Get out of our way, kid!" Said one of them. "I'm sure you don't want any trouble." I threw my Pokeball to the ground and Kabutops appeared in a flash of light. Each of the magma grunts threw their Pokeballs too. Three Mightyenas, two Houndooms and two Donphans. "Kabutops!" I said. "Get them!" Kabutops charged, it's scythe arms held out to the sides. It slashed two Donphan, blood spurting on the ground and walls. I spotted Sakura in the corner. She didn't have her Pokeballs. She was being held down by a Magma Admin. The two Donphans fell to the ground, severely injured. "Houndoom, Fire Fang!" Said a grunt. The Demon Hound came running at me, not Kabutops. I kicked at it, missing. It bounds onto me, knocking me to the ground. Kabutops looked back, and ran at the Houndoom trying to kill me.

I looked over at Sakura, now fighting back to get her Pokemon. I threw the Houndoom of of me, into the range of Kabutops. It ripped the Dog's left horn off. I ran up behind the Admin hurting Sakura and kicked him into the wall. "Sakura! Come with me!" I said, holding out my hand. She blushed, and grabbed it. We ran out of the Center. Kabutops was finishing off the Houndoom. It lay on the ground, severely injured. I returned it to its Pokeball as I ran. We heard sirens, and before long, the Police were lined up outside the building.

Once every Magma member had been subdued, a Police officer approached Sakura and I. "We're you involved in this?" She asked.

"What do you mean? As in, we helped defeat them." I said.

"I just need you to come down to the station to answer a few questions."

"But- I didn't- I defeated three of there Pokemon!" She escorted me into her car and got in. "But what about Sakura!?"

"Who?"

"My friend. The one I was with just now..."

"The green haired girl? What about her?"

"Isn't she coming?"

"She doesn't need to."

"She had the _exact _same amount of involvement as me!" She drove in silence.

When we arrived at the station, the woman took me to a room at the back. "Did you injure any Pokemon at the Center?"

"Only Team magma's Pokemon."

"I knew it." She picked a Pokeball from her bag and released it. A Camerupt stood where she released the light. "_Hehehehehe_" she laughed.

"What the-!?" She ripped off her uniform and revealed her crimson Team Magma T-Shirt.

"Kill him." She ordered to her Camerupt. The Orange Camel marched over to me as the Magma woman stepped out of the room. She now had her Police uniform back on. I reached for Kabutops' Pokeball. It wasn't there. She had stolen it.

Now that I knew I had only my bare hands to survive the Camerupt's attacks, I readied myself. It charged at me, and I dodged, causing a loud crash, and a small hole in the wall. I looked back, the Pokemon was stuck. I ran at the door, and grabbed the handle. Locked. I emptied my pockets, trying to find something to pick the lock with. Nothing. I turned around, the Camerupt free, and readying itself for another charge. It ran at me, and I jumped out of the way at the last second. It smashed through the door, causing screams from the hallway outside. The Pokemon ran down the hall. It had now found others to terrorise.

I had to find Kabutops. Team Magma had him, I searched through the empty rooms until I came across one labelled: _Inventory_. I open the door, it is filled with Pokeballs, great balls, ultra balls, any variation of Pokeball you could imagine. I emptied Pikeball after Pokeball, hoping Kabutops to be one of them. The third last one I checked was a success. "Kabutops!" I said, excitedly.

"Celebrate while you can, child." A voice came from the outside of the door. The woman from the interrogation room. "_You will never get out of here alive._" She released another Pokeball. A Heliolisk stood next to her. "Earthquake!" She called. The Lizard stomped its foot and the ground started to shake. Kabutops and I braced ourselves and held onto a cabinet. We pulled too hard and it capsized. The Earthquake subsided and the woman ran.

"Kabutops," I said. "Surf!" Kabutops shot gallons of water from it's mouth, filling the room, and then started riding it towards Heliolisk, knocking it down. The Scaley Lizard lay in the water whilst it was drained out through the cracks in the floorboards. "Finish this with Night Slash!" The brown armoured monster stabbed it's scythe hand through the Heliolisk's arm, spurting blood onto the walls. We ran down the hall the way the woman went. We arrived in the lobby, the administrator passed out on the floor.

The street outside was loud with commotion. There were Magma grunts left and right. "Kabuto!" I called. "Rapid spin!" Kabuto ran to the middle of the fighting, held it's arms out and started spinning. The grunts fell to the ground, their Pokemon trampling them in confusion.

"Alakazam, Psyshock!" A large man emerged from a corner with a large Yellow Pokemon. The Alakazam raised it's spoons and the grunts started screaming in pain. They raised from the ground, squirming and still screaming. "Now, Alakazam," the man slammed his hand onto his wristband, shining in the afternoon sunlight. He raised it to the sky, and Alakazam began to shine uncontrollably. "Mega Evolve!" The yellow menace grew a large white beard, and began to levitate. The light around it exploded and it roared with anticipation. The Pokemon fought off every member of Team Magma, and walked away.

**To be continued... **


	3. Team Aqua

The Fortree Pokemon Centre smelled great. Like a Tropius's fruit. There was still two weeks until my next Skill Competition, so Sakura and I were searching for the man who saved Lavarige town from Team magma the week before. It was 6 am when Sakura woke me up. "Rise and Shine!" She laughed. I got up and ate breakfast at an empty table in the corner of the Centre. I was right, the Centre's cooks made Tropius Stew.

Sakura sat down next to me as I went to stand up. "By the way," she said. "I caught a new Pokemon last night when you were in bed."

"Really?" I said, wiping my face with a napkin. "What is it?" She took out a Pokeball and released the light onto the shining linoleum floor. A sky-blue monster with an oversized mouth emerged from the light.

"A Loudred!" I stood, studying the Pokemon.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Route 119." I frowned.

"How? You usually can't find them there. They're usually around caves on route 116 and places like that." She shrugged and walked into our room.

At 7 am, I left the Centre and explored Fortree City. There wasn't streets as such, but bridges connecting tree house to tree house. At the end of the bridge, a man with grey hair stood. I recognised him, he used to be the Pokemon League's champion. Steven Stone. He glanced over at me, and noticed me staring. "Hey." He said, as if he knew me.

"E- excuse me?" He frowned.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Who?"

"A Skill Coordinator that I heard about. Takashi Sugimori I think it was." I breathed a surprised gasp of expression.

"Yeah, that is me!" Steven made a sound as if he was relieved and excited.

"I'm a big fan!" I frowned.

"How do you even _know _about me? Let alone be a 'big fan'"

"I've seen you on TV, and I was at your Competition in Lavarige town."

Steven and I talked for about half an hour, until he got a phone call on his PokeNav. "I can't talk." He said to whoever was calling. He stayed silent, probably listening to the caller. He soon hung up and said he had to go. "If you want to keep talking, I'll be at the Pokemon Centre at 3 PM." He said. I nodded and he left.

I stood there, wondering how Steven Stone, the former _Pokemon league champion_, could know who I _was_, let alone be a fan. I went back to the Pokemon Centre and told Sakura about Steven. "Steven Stone is a fan of yours?!" She exclaimed. "I _love _him! You have _got _to introduce me to him!" I chuckled and returned to my room. "Takashi!" I turned to see a man in crimson clothes with his arm around Sakura's neck.

"Sakura!" I screamed and ran at the man. He let go of Sakura and jumped out of the way. I was already going to fast, and I collided with her. "Oh my god" I said. "Are you Okay?!" She nodded and pointed at the man.

I grabbed my Pokeball from my bag and threw it up to the ceiling. It hit the ground and burst into white light, which soon revealed the brown-plated beast. "Kabutops!" I called. "Hydro Pump!" Kabutops stood still as it's mouth opened and shot a stream of powerful water at the man.

"Is it Team Magma?!" Asked Sakura.

"I'm not sure!" The Hydro Pump hit the man and he fell back, now reaching for his own Pokeball. He managed to release the beast inside. When the light faded a large Red Dinosaur Pokemon stood in the middle of the room, crouching to be able to fit in the Centre.

"Takashi! It's a Groudon!" Screamed Sakura. "Be careful!" She grabbed a Pokeball from her bag and threw it to the ground. Her newly caught Loudred stood before her.

"Loudred;" Called Sakura. "Uproar!" The blue beast began to scream as loud as it could and make noise any way it seemed fit. It stomped it's feet and it's speaker ears started to amplify the scream. Groudon wasn't affected by the Uproar in any way. On the other hand, Kabutops and I couldn't stand it. We fell to the floor and passed out.

I woke up in my room in the Pokemon Centre, Sakura was standing over me with Loudred standing next to her. Groudon was gone, and so was the man. My head was pounding from the Loudred's earlier Uproar. Steven Stone stepped in next to her and couched down. "You Okay?" He asked. I sat up and nodded to him. My ears felt like they were on fire. I looked at the watch on my wrist.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Since Yesterday." Replied the former Champion. I rubbed my head.

"That long huh? Damn, I've got a headache."

"Come on; we'll get the doctor to check it out.

I sat onto the stretcher and the Doctor came into the room with me. "So," he said. "what's wrong?"

"I've got this really bad headache." I said, pointing to my head. "After yesterday's 'Uproar'." He smiled at my joke and grabbed a small white bottle from a cabinet on the wall.

"Take these." He handed me the bottle and I read the label:

'_Pain Killers - Specialised Migraine Protection' _

"You're free to leave when you're ready." He smiled.

"Already? That look like ten seconds."

"Headaches are common around here, ever since Team Aqua started up."

"Team Aqua?"

"You know Team Magma? Team Aqua is their Counterpart. Team Magma wants to expand the land of the world. But Team _Aqua_, wants to expand the sea. Team Aqua built a machine that sends out brainwave signals and planted it somewhere in Fortree. The police have been searching for _years_. Still nothing."

The Centre was quiet despite the construction due to the building being attacked by a giant dinosaur. I lay there and thought. I thought about home and I thought about travelling. After the Pokemon Centre attacks I was seriously considering just going home back to Slateport. But I decided to stay, to fulfil my dream, of becoming the worlds number one Pokemon Skill Coordinator!

After a couple of hours Sakura came into my room and sat on the bed. "You doing alright?" She asked. I closed my eyes and put my hands behind my head.

"Not really, no." She sighed.

"Do you need anything?"

"After all that's happened recently - my competition failure, the attacks - I really just want to keep going."

"What do you mean?"

"Just keep exploring. I'll try again next year."

"Takashi. It was _one _loss. You can't keep yourself down for that."

"I'm serious. There. I'm gonna just train for the next year. Then, when the time comes, I'll win every competition in the tournament." I smiled thinking about it. I sat up, laying a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Thanks for trying to help, but I've got it covered."

I walked down the dirt path of Route 121 and came to a large patch of grass. Kabutops was following behind. I pointed to a nearby Mightyena and Kabutops darted at it. It jumped to the sky and crashed down on top of the dog and it squealed. It stopped breathing and lay there dead. Kabutops stood over the deceased Mightyena and breathed heavily, and I returned him to his Pokeball. Sakura walked up behind me and stared in horror. I walked through the grass, the rest of the Pokemon avoiding my step. She ran back to Fortree, tears developing in her eyes from the sight of me killing the Pokemon.

**1 Year Later...**

I stepped up to the top of the Sky Pillar discovering he green electric dragon sleeping peacefully at the top. I approached it quietly and sat down on a boulder nearby, putting my bag on the floor next to me. The Rayquaza lay there in it's slumber as if it was not disturbed. Just then, the doorway leading downstairs started to rumble, and pebbles fell from the already crumbled ceiling and found there way onto Rayquaza's face. It moved it head, and I fell back, onto the ground with a large bang. The wingless-dragon opened it's eyes immediately and raised it's head.

It stared at me cluelessly and then made a distressed roar then flew recklessly out of the ceiling, collapsing a large portion of the wall connected. I ran to the window, looking downwards to see anything that could have caused the rumbling that led to the dragons awakening. I looked to see a group on men-and-women in white-and-black T-Shirts and blue trousers. I had heard of this uniform, Team Aqua. Also approaching from the Surf of Route 130 was a large group of Team Magma grunts. The green dragon flew into the distance toward Mt. Pyre.

I catch the eye of an Aqua Grunt, a girl with short-cut green hair and shorter than the rest; Sakura Akihiko. "Sakura!" I called, catching her attention fully. "What are you doing with those _freaks_?!" She glared at me.

"Shut Up!" She screamed. "These are my friends!; My _Family_!" I knew if had to get her away from them, as she wouldn't be safe otherwise. The Magma grunts made the coast and were now releasing their Pokemon onto the Aqua Grunts. The Water-Lovers released their own Water Pokemon to counter Magma's ground types.

"Kabutops!" I called. "Stop this!" I released the beast, crashing down on top of an Aqua Grunt's Pelliper, crushing it's bones. Kabutops ripped the wing off of a nearby Magma Talonflame, and crashed it's Scythe arm into a Donphan. Sakura released her Loudred -now evolved, into an Exploud - and ordered it to attack Kabutops. Whilst Kabutops was stabbing it's arm violently into the shell of a Magcargo, Explod caught it off-guard and used it's Stomp attack on it's foot. It fell back, into the water and darted at Exploud, hacking it's Scythe at it.

The two fought until they were both tired. All of the Pokemon were dead or severely injured. Sakura and I had our own fight though. She swung a punch at me, landing her fist in my face. I lashed out at her, my leg ramming into her side, blood dripping from my nose. I then landed my elbow into her chest and she dodged my next kick. She roundhouse kicked my head and jumped back. I ran at her, starting to question why I was fighting her. Just when I was about to strike, she almost fainted, and her legs gave out. I caught her and held her in my arms on my knees. She opened her eyes and softly smiled. I lay my head onto her shoulder and teared up. "I'm so sorry." I said. She rubbed my head and wrapped her arms around me. I stood, placing Sakura firmly on the ground on her feet.

She stared at me, a large blush covering her face. She jumped onto me and wrapped her arms around my body. I put my hands on her back and she squeezed. "So... Are we gonna go together again?" I looked down, disappointed in myself.

"What about Aqua?" I said. "Your Friends, sorry, your Family? What about all that?"

"I never cared about them. I heard they were searching for you because you knew how to take down Magma. I tagged along in any attempt to get close to you again." She looked back in my direction and made a disturbed face. I looked around, and remembered all of the injured and dead Pokemon and Grunts.

"Ugh..." I managed. "We should probably take care of that." An Aqua grunt managed to stand despite the deep gash on his arm.

"Seriously, Akihiko?!" He grunted. "You never cared about us? _Never_?! Not even when we took you in when we found you passed out on Route 120?!" She made a sad but angry face.

"Exploud...!" She said. The grunt backed up, and ignored her, in fear of causing an uproar. "So?"

I looked at the ground, pondering. "I can't think of a reason why not." I looked at her and smiled. She made a relieved face and fell into my arms.

It was then I noticed the deep wound on Sakura's back. "Oh my _God, Sakura_!" I said. No answer. I pulled her up, she had passed out. Kabutops had now almost fully recovered and I put Sakura on my back and jumped on Kabutops's. We rushed to the Sea Town of Pacifidlog. I had heard that there was an Unovan healer there named Henry Walters. I ran from house to house trying to find the man, but each I checked was empty. I finally came across a torch-lit hut, the whole town inside.

They were all hanging out of a window pointing toward Mt. Pyre. There was a perfect view of Rayquaza circling the volcano. I found Henry and showed him Sakura. His eyes widened the minute he saw her. "My Friend is badly-" I began.

"Sakura!" He grabbed her from my back and lay her on a stretcher nearby. His eyes started to tear up. "What is your name?!"

"Takashi, Sir. Takashi Sugimori."

"Thank you Takashi. For saving my daughter."

"Sakura is your daughter?!"

"She is! And I wouldn't have forgiven myself if something worse had happened!" He inspected her back rushingly. He rushed over to a cabinet and pulled out several packets of bottles and bandages. He opened up a bottle, revealing the squirter in the lid, he slid a green liquid into the wound. He then covered the gash with a dozen large bandages.

Henry left Sakura on the stretcher to rest and sat down on an empty stool. "So what's happening around here?" I asked. "Why is everyone in here looking at Mt. Pyre?"

"Are you serious?!" He replied. "Haven't you seen the Rayquaza?! It flew across the sky from Sky Pillar all the way over to Mt. Pyre! Something must have woken 'I'm up!" I hesitated.

"Uhhh... I... May have something to do with it..." The rest of the town overheard me, even over all of the noise and stared at me, glaring.

"What the hell?!" Said a blonde boy about 16 years old.

"That thing almost _destroyed _my house!" Said a dark-skinned bald man.

"Get 'Im!" Said the blonde boy. A few trainers opened their Pokeballs to release a Greninja, a Politoed and a Metagross. I released Kabutops from his Pokeball and let him ravage the three opponents.

"Don't kill them, Kabutops." I said calmly. The brown beast darted from side to side of the room dodging ranged attacks from the three Pokemon. It then dug a Scythe into the Greninja and pulled outwards, developing a large wound on it's torso. It then drove it's arm into the Politoed's head, falling back onto Metagross. Greninja shook off the pain and ran at Kabutops, slamming his bent leg into it's Schthe, knocking it into the wall of the room. I turned to see Sakura waking up. I ran over to her, making sure she didn't see Kabutops do anything extreme. It recovered immediately and hacked it's arm into the Metagross's X plate. It reflected the hit, but Kabutops then slammed its hand through its eye socket, penetrating the metal on the other side. The blue metal beast dropped to the ground. "Kabutops! I said _don't _kill them!" It looked over to me and Politoed shot a powerful blast of water at it. It hit Kabutops directly, sending it slamming into Sakura and I, and sending us out the door, into the water.

I grabbed Sakura in a panic, she was now unconscious again. She could drown. I made sure her head was above the water at all times. I struggled to grab onto the logs of the town and pull myself up but the current was too strong, and Sakura was weighing me down. Kabutops dived under the water and boosted us up onto the land. Henry came outside and helped Kabutops out of the water while I got Sakura inside. I lay her back down where the stretcher once was and Kabutops stepped beside me.

"Kabutops," I said. "_destroy _them." The brown beast held out it's Scythe arms and ran towards the Politoed. It executed a powerful X-Scissor attack, sending the green frog flying. It crashed hard into Greninja, losing it's concentration it was building up. It's Scythe made a 180° arc through the air and stabbed straight through the Politoed's head, sending blood everywhere. Greninja stuggled it's way to it's feet and extended it's tongue, wrapping around Kabutops' left arm. It dug it's free arm into the tongue and Greninja screeched in pain. It stumbled backward onto it's back. Kabutops raised it's Scythe and cut straight into. Greninja's torso.

The room went silent. The three dead Pokemon draped in the arms of their trainers. Everyone began to approach me - Mob style - and Henry stood in the middle. When he stepped in the crowd stopped and started shouting. "Calm down, _Calm Down!_" He ordered. "This boy is _not _the enemy!"

"He killed my Greninja!" Said the trainer with the blue ninja-frog lying next to him.

"And he told his Kabutops _not _to kill it!"

"It still did..." I looked down in serious regret. Sakura started to open her eyes. She sat up.

"What's happening?" She said, and spotted the three dead Pokemon. "Oh my God!" I put my hand on her head.

The people of Pacifidlog put me on a raft and I drifted to the west toward Slateport. Sakura ran down the log path to catch up and jumped onto the raft. "Sakura!" I said. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Sakura!" Screamed Henry running down the path where Sakura did.

"I'm not staying _there_!" She said. "Practically everyone hates me there. That's the main reason I left!"

"We'll looks like we're gonna hit Slateport, by the direction we're going."

"Didn't you say you live there?"

"I did."

"Will your family be there?"

"They should be."

"Cool! You just met my family, now I'll meet yours!"

After about twenty minutes of silence on the raft, we landed on the shores of Slateport City. I hopped off onto the white hand and held out my hand to help Sakura off. She grabbed my hand and pulled to propel herself upwards. We made our way to the house beside the Boat House. I knocked on the door and a 13 year old girl answered the door. "Takashi!" She exclaimed and hugged me.

"Hey sis'!" I said and she noticed Sakura.

"Who's this?"

"Oh, sorry!" Said Sakura. "I'm Sakura Akihiko! I'm a friend of your brother!"

"I'm Aki!" She held her hand out to Sakura signalling a shake. Sakura shook.

We stepped inside and each took a seat at the kitchen table. "Where's Mum?" I asked.

"She's in Mauville for a business trip." Aki answered.

"She got a job?"

"Yeah, at the Boat house."

"Next door, convenient."

"Anyway, so why are you back?"

"I was at Sky Pillar, and I-"

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"The Rayquaza at Mt. Pyre... You woke it up didn't you?"

"Uhh... It was also partially Team Aqua and Team Magma's faults!"

"Hey!" Said Sakura. "How the hell did we do anything?!" Aki stood from her seat.

"She's a Magma Agent?!"

"I _used to be _an _Aqua _Agent." Aki sat.

"Anyway," I said. "How about Dad?"

"He's at the Market."

There was a noise of keys rattling at the door. A man with thin black hair wearing a grey vest walked through the door. He walked into the kitchen and didn't notice I was there. He put down the groceries and his eyes met mine. "Takashi!" He exclaimed. "You're back!"

"Hey Dad!" I stood and held out my hand to shake. He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.

"When'd you get back?" I opened my mouth to speak when a load roar came from Mt. Pyre and something came crashing through the window.

A small green Pokemon lay there in the glass. I knelt next to it and my eyes widened. "A Celebi!"

"The Pokemon that lives in Johto?!" Asked Aki.

"Why is it here?" Wondered Sakura. Dad looked at Sakura in wonder.

"Who's this?" He asked.

"Sakura." I said. I reached for Celebi and it shone a bright blue light. My sight was enveloped in white light and I fell asleep.

**To be Continued**


	4. Celebi and Maxie

**Ok, here's the new chapter. Sorry for any change in tense, or continuity errors. I have been writing multiple story's each with different tenses - and there was a long gap in between writing parts of this chapter, so I may not remember specific facts without going back, and some I didn't. Enjoy :) **

I woke up in my house. Only the interior was completely destroyed. Most of the exterior was visible and the Boat house next door was on fire. My hand was on top of the unconscious Celebi. I got up in a hurry. In front of the Boat house was a man in crimson clothes and a black mask. His red hair flowed down his neck and it was as if he was laughing, but no sound escaped his mouth. Several Magma Grunts surrounded him and sent out there own Ground-type Pokemon and helped the man destroy the building.

I reached for my Pokeball and released Kabutops. The brown beast stared at the man and pounced. The man wrestled and struggled to get Kabutops off of him. The Magma Agents attempted to help but Kabutops ripped off the man's mask, revealing severe burns covering his entire face. He screamed in pain as Kabutops dug a scythe into his arm. The Celebi rose from its unconscious state and flew at the burnt man. Despite the Pokemon's small size it's strength was great. The man slammed into the wall of the Boat House and grunted. Kabutops then shot a powerful Hydro Pump at the man, the wall tumbling down and the man was crushed by fragments of stone.

The Magma Agents stared in horror as their leader died before them. Kabutops returned to its Pokeball as the large pile of rubble shook. From the ashes a large red dinosaur rose and roared aggressively. Groudon. Aqua grunts suddenly appeared on the coast riding a large Blue Whale and it also roared. The two monsters glared at each other and used Powerful attacks. The Groudon stomped it's foot to the ground and the earth shook as the Whale caused a Tsunami. The remaining walls of my house began to fall and just as I was about to be crushed, Celebi flew from out of no where and blue light shone. I fell to sleep.

I woke up again in my house, this time the house was fine. No smoke could be smelled, everything was fine. I then realised. This Celebi - it didn't just put me to sleep - it took me through time. I had wondered if that was what had happened but I couldn't believe it. They were all just Myths. I had once heard a story that the Voice of the Forest possessed the power of time itself. But I had always thought of it to be a legend. My Father walked into the room, his hair in a much shorter state than I had seen it before Celebi had arrived. He spotted me and his eyes widened. "Takashi! Aki!" He called. "Hide Somewhere! Anywhere! There's an intruder!" I remembered this. When I was 7 years old, there was a 15 year old boy that suddenly appeared with a small green Pokemon. I had never realised that it was me. I had thought I looked a bit like him, but I never gave it a second thought.

My 7 year old self peeked through the doorway and looked at me. My Father picked me up by the collar and put his face close to mine. "Who the _hell _are you?!"

"My name is... Uh..." I peered over to the doorway, my younger self hid when I saw him. "Bond... James... Bond." My Father made a confused face.

"Like, the movies?"

"Uh... Yeah! I was named after James Bond! My Mum really liked the franchise!" He loosened his grip and put me on my feet.

"What the _hell _are you doing in my house?! What were you trying to steal?!"

"Nothing! I swear, nothing!" It was then I remembered how scared yet intrigued by this James Bond that had appeared in my house I was. 4 year old Aki joined my 7 year old self in the doorway.

Celebi began to gain consciousness once again and started to make soft noises as if it was in pain. "_What, _is _that _thing!" Asked my Father pointing at the Pokemon lying on the floor.

"It's a... My Pokemon! It's injured!" He held out his hand.

"Give me it's Pokeball, I'll take it to the Centre." I reached for my bag and reminded myself that this Celebi wasn't actually my Pokemon. I picked an empty ball and put it into my Father's hand. He put the Celebi into the ball and he took me to the Pokemon Centre.

I figured that when I got back to my own time I would release the Celebi back into the wild and forget it had all happened. My Father had a doctor at the Centre heal the Pokemon and we sat down at a table. "Ok," My Father started. "Tell me everything." I looked around and thought about holding up my lie, but I decided to tell him the truth.

"Ok, I lied about being named James Bond." He stood in rage.

"You lied to me?!"

"Dad! Were in public!" His eyes narrowed.

"What?" I internally hit myself.

"I am Takashi Sugimori. I am your son."

"My _son _is back at my house! You are some freak that just turned up there!"

"I'm telling the truth. I am your son. The only difference is my age. That Celebi, it-"

"The what?"

"Celebi. The Pokemon we came here to heal. It isn't my Pokemon. It is a wild Pokemon, that crashed through the window of our house and sent me forward in time."

"I can find _so _many holes in your story."

"I'm not finished. There I saw my- _out_ house being attacked by Team Magma, along with the rest of Slateport City. Then the Celebi-"

"How would an _older _self of my son go _forward _in time to a point in time where he is _younger_?!"

"Please stop interrupting. I'm explaining. Then the Celebi took me _back _in time, and I appeared in the hall, where you found me. I remember this from when I was seven years old."

We were inside our house where my seven year old self was staring at me. I smiled at him and he giggled. "Who are you?" Asked Aki.

"I'm James Bond."

"Jams Band?"

"James Bond."

"Jams... Band...?"

"Never mind. Anyway, I'm just helping your Dad out with some things, ok?" My Father was still hesitant about my identity, but he had always been a nice guy, so he agreed to help me every way that he could.

"You wook wike my bwuver!" She said. I smirked and had to stop myself from telling her that I _was_ her brother. My Father walked into the room and handed each of us a saucer with a riceball on it. We ate in silence as the fire in the fireplace crackled with warmth.

Aki and little Takashi fell asleep leaning on the lounge and my father put them to bed. He returned and sat opposite to me. "So," he said. "The Celebi should be fully rested tomorrow."

"Well that's good."

"It is. Will you be going straight away?"

"I'm not sure yet. There's a few things I just need to check out."

"Uh... Alright. So... If your my son... Do you still have your Kabuto?" I smile and release Kabutops from it's Pokeball. "So he evolves it, then. Are you a trainer?"

"Right now, yes, I'm focussing on training, but normally I'm a Skill Coordinator."

"A what?"

"A skill Coordinator. It's like those Contests that run these days, but need higher skill and coordination with a Pokemon."

"Ok. So, what do these contests entail?"

"They have three stages. Depending on the rank, they're different. On rookie rank, in the first stage, each Pokemon has to destroy a set amount of stone slabs. Stage two, destroy the dummie with style. And then there's stage three, always the same; an obstacle course set specifically for the selected Pokemon." We chatted for a while longer and then went to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning to check out the Slateport Market. It brang back so many memories. Just sad that it had to be destroyed by Team Aqua and Magma someday. While I was looking at the new shipment of Apricorns, a man with long red hair approached. His crimson jacket seemed familiar. It hit me. It was the man that was with the Magma Grunts when Celebi took me to the future. I kill him. Or, I killed him. The time travel was starting to confuse me. He spoke in a deep voice. "Give me some red apricorns, quick. I need to get on the next boat to Johto."

"Then why don't you just buy them there?" Said the shopkeeper. "You'll get 'em fresh there, they grow there you know" The man slammed his hand on a box of Apricorns.

"Because I told you to sell me the damn Apricorns, idiot!" He pulled back the side of his coat and revealed a master ball attached to his waist. The shopkeeper winced and handed over the Apricorns.

"Uh... Here! You know what? You can have 'em free! Just please don't hurt me!" He snatched up the fruit and stormed off.

I stomped my foot and he stopped. "What the hell?!" He turned. "You can't just walk in here, and intimidate people into giving you stuff! It's practically stealing!" He showed me the Master Ball like he did the shopkeeper. I stood there.

"Ok, fine." He took the ball away from his waist and released the Pokemon inside. I thought it was going to be Groudon, but no. Just a Camerupt. I noticed a small colourful earring on his left ear. He tapped it and his Pokemon was swallowed by a brown sphere. "Camerupt," he called," Mega Evolve!" I remembered the Alakazam from Lavaridge town. Mega Evolving. The Camerupt emerged from the sphere and now had a single volcano on its back.

Kabutops emerged from its Pokeball and readied itself. The town was quiet with anticipation. The only sound now was a baby crying in the distance. "Camerupt, Lava Plume!" Called the man. The beast charged its Volcano, lava spilling out of the brim. I knew I had to do something or these innocent people would die.

"Kabutops!" I screamed. "Icy Wind!" Kabutops slashed its Schthe arm at Camerupt and a burst of cold air flew at it. The tiny icicles melted as they approached. Lava spewed out of the beast and covered the surroundings. Several stalls were turned instantly to ash. People scrambled away as three of them were melted by lava.

I clenched my teeth and screamed at him. I charged at the man and swung my fist. It caught him in the hand. He caught the punch. He twisted my hand around and I cried out. I kicked him in the side and he toppled over. Kabutops turned away from Camerupt and began to charge at the man on the ground. "Kabutops!" I called,"kill the damn Camerupt! I'll get this idiot!" The brown beast turned again and continued with Camerupt. I slammed my foot into the man's face and he cried out. I look up to see my father, staring at me in disgust. He shakes his head and runs back home. I lift my foot from the man's face and run after him.

Camerupt ran down the beach of Slateport, drawing closer to the water with every stamp. The beast became to far from its trainer, and reverted back to its original form. Kabutops assumed the beast would stop when it reached the water, and it would strike then - but no, it kept on running. To the brown beast's surprise, the water would form into solid earth as Camerupt approached. Kabutops had an idea. Camerupt is fast on land, sure. But Kabutops was a _lot _faster in water. It ran slightly to the left, heading into the water. When it was about two metres in front of the water, it dived into the shallow pool. It could travel fast in water. Very fast.

Kabutops was catching up now, and fast. The Camerupt looked down at the water to its left, and a wide stream of high pressure water shot at it. It fell to the right, and a small island formed, but it crashed though into the water. Camerupt was now very weak. Kabutops dug its Scythe arm into one of the beasts blue rings on its side and dragged it through the abdomen. The Scythe exited the body though the head. Camerupt sank to the bottom, but dragged itself ashore. Kabutops watched it struggle, and Camerupt was completely still.

"Dad!" I screamed,"_DAD!_" My father turned angrily.

"I am _not _your father!" He turned and began storming off again. "No son of mine would try to kill a man or a Pokemon! Especially _him_!"

"What?"

"You tried to kill Maxie and his Camerupt!"

"Maxie?"

"The man you had your foot on!"

"Wait... I've heard of him... Isn't he the Team Magma Boss?!"

"Yes!" I stopped but he didn't.

Kabutops made its way back to me and I put it in its ball. I ran towards my house. I knew I could get through to him somehow. I got to the door, and little Takashi answered. "Hey, little guy. Do you know where your Dad is?"

"He is outside wiv the Pokemon" I frowned.

"What Pokemon?"

"The Cele- Celeb- Celebi... I think is was" my eyes widened and ran around to the back off the house. I arrive to see my father about to release my way back to my own time.

"Stop!" He turns.

"What the hell do you want?!"

"Give me the damn Celebi"

"No. You're not my son. I don't believe that you're from another time. I called the cops. This thing is getting away from you. It doesn't need this crap." He let go of the Celebi and it flew at me. It crashed into my stomach and we were gone.

I woke up in my house again. I was back. But I was not as happy as I had hoped I would be. Aki, Sakura and Dad crowded around me. "What the hell?!" Said Sakura. "He's back!" Celebi was next to me, and the three picked me up and questioned me about what happened. I told them everything, Sakura and Aki were surprised. Dad wasn't - at least, if he was, he didn't show it. I could tell Aki remembered some of it, but she was too small to understand it all. Dad took me into the Dining room to talk. He hugged me. "I'm so sorry" I told him the parts I didn't tell the others. I don't know why. He was there. "That day just confused me so much. You appear in my house, you bring a legendary Pokemon, you try to kill a man and his Pokemon, then when I call the cops, you just _disappear_"

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have let you see those things."

We sat down for lunch. "By the way," I said,"I nearly forgot. Did you find out what the commotion at Mt. Pyre was?" Dad scowled.

"Those damn Team Aqua and Magma. Now they're both at Pacifidlog. Scared they're gonna come here." My eyes widened.

"When does Mum get into town?!" Aki frowned at me.

"Today. Why? What's up with you?"

"Before Celebi took me to the past, it took me to the future. I'm not sure how far into the future, but I'm scared from where Team Aqua and Magma are, it's sometime this week. They destroy Slateport."

**To be continued...**


	5. Ikusaba and Mewtwo

The city was almost completely destroyed. Luckily, the only death, no, injury at all, was the building collapsing on Magma Boss Maxie. Everyone was escorted across the cycling road to Mauville City. Dad, Mum, Aki. Sakura. I still had to go finish up some stuff back in Slateport. When the citizens were entering the cycling road building, I slipped away and hid in the trees. I stayed until the attack had ended. When the noise died down, I ran north and rested in the house at the top of Route 110.

The house was empty. There was a scroll on the back wall and a small shining object under the table that was placed in the centre of the room. Although I was… sure… that I was alone, I still felt like I was being watched. I sat down at the table and rested. I felt something brushing against my leg and I jumped out of my seat. There was a man… under the table.

When the man stood, I knew immediately who he was; and _where I _was. This was the trickhouse, and this was the trick master.

"So what brings you to my home?" He asked with a laugh. I looked at him with a confused look on my face.

"You seriously don't know about the attack? On Slateport?" He adopted the emotion I was feeling and stroked his thin goatee.

"Attack?"

"Magma and Aqua… Attacking the City… IT'S COMPLETELY DESTROYED!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea about these attacks, or these Magma or Aqua individuals are"

"Magma and Aqua are Teams… You know, you're not as tricky as you're advertised to be."

"Well maybe if you try one of my puzzles, you'll think otherwise!"

"And what do I have to do to begin one of these?"

"Well I hid an object in the destroyed city. Bring it to me and—"

"Excuse me?"

"Hm?"

"Five minutes ago you didn't know the city was destroyed"

"I have friends in high places" He smirked.

I stepped back into the destroyed city once again. I was looking for some sort of strange object apparently. I began my search in the Marketplace. I dug myself a small hole in the rubble and began rummaging. I heard the sound of a bird swooping, and I poked my head up. At the shorehouse was a boy of about 17, dismounting a Latios. I ducked so he couldn't see me, and he walked through the city. I turned when I heard the sound of stomping, and Groudon was standing there. The boy twisted and threw a Pokeball to his side. The Legendary Pokemon from the Unova region emerged from the light. Terrakion.

"Take Down!" The boys voice was deep, and was that of a leader. The brown beast darted to the side, and then shot itself towards the Groudon's torso. It was a direct hit, and the dinosaur toppled over onto the Contest Hall. The boy took a quick ball from his pack and threw it at the Groudon. He was trying to catch it. I tried to prop myself up to the surface, but I had dug myself in too deep. The ball shook twice and Groudon released itself from it's trap. The boy got frustrated and released two more legendary Pokemon.

"Terrakion, Latios, distract it! Dialga, Draco Meteor!" He ordered his Pokemon and darted to the left. The giant blue beast charged it's attack as Latios and Terrakion circled Groudon. A beam of light shot from Dialga's mouth and Groudon was shot back past the Route 110 gate. The boy lopped an Ultra Ball at the beast and I tried my hardest to get myself out of the hole I had dug myself. I managed to pull myself up and tried to run as fast as I could to the scene. I had a limp however and I was very slow. The Groudon burst from the ball and the boy ordered the Terrakion to commence one more attack. As soon as the Ultra Ball left the boy's hand, I screamed,"What the hell are you doing?!"

The boy turned and stared. "None of your business, kid." I saw the ball tighten, and it made a clicking sound. He had captured the Groudon.

"You can't handle a Pokemon with that kind of power!" I screamed at him. He smirked and stepped over to his newly caught Groudon. He picked it up and released the dinosaur. At the same time, Celebi began to fly around my head. He put on an interested face.

"How'd you manage to get that thing on your team?"

"Shut up! Who the hell are you anyway?!"

"The name's Ikusaba. I'm a Pokemon Hunter." I grabbed a Pokeball from my bag and released Kabutops.

"Kabutops, Slash!" He turned to Groudon and made a hand gesture towards Kabutops. Groudon stomped hard and a fissure began to trace the ground. The brown beast was thrown to the right and into the sea. I jumped the crack in the ground and jumped in after him.

The water was cold, but I could barely feel it. The salty water was clouding my vision and making my eyes sting. I found Kabutops and grabbed onto him. I tried to pull him to the shore but the current was too strong. I continued to try to pull towards the shore, but I was swept backwards. Just then, we were hit by a hard object, and lifted into the air. Ikusaba's Latios. We were flown to the shore, but before we had even landed, both Kabutops and I had fallen unconscious.

I woke up in a room which nearly blinded me as soon as I opened my eyes. I was on a hospital bed. When my eyes opened, I could hear a girl's voice. "Taka's awake!" She squealed running out of the room. Sakura returned with My Mother, Father and Aki.

"Wh-where am I?" I moaned, my eyes still stinging from the light.

"Rustboro Hospital." Sakura had tears in her eyes. "Taka, do you know what happened to you?" My mind raced back to before I fell unconscious.

"Slateport… Groudon… Ikusaba…" I fell back to sleep.

I awoke once again with the lights dimmed. My eyes didn't have to adjust to the light so I sat up. "Taka's awake again!" Sakura called out to the hallway.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"The first time? About a month… Just then? Maybe…. An hour or two." Aki came in and ran up to the bed I was sleeping.

"Big Brother!" At that moment, I for some reason remembered about Kabutops. He had become unconscious at the same time as me.

"Where's Kabutops?!" I stood up and rushed out the door, ripping out the cords and pipes that were attached to me.

The rest of the hospital was as bright as it was when I woke up the first time. Sakura ran out after me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Taka! Stop!" I spun around and looked at her. "Kabutops is alright. He's at the Pokemon Centre; they're looking after him." I let my muscles relax.

"Oh thank god." I began to become tired again. I nearly dozed off while standing, but managed to keep myself awake.

I stayed in the hospital for a few days, and Sakura stayed the whole time. Mum and Aki went back to Mauville where the Slateport evacuees were refuged. Dad was staying in a hotel. When Sakura stepped out to use the bathroom, I was visited by the last person I wanted to see. The boy named Ikusaba stepped in and stood over me. He scowled. "I heard you were awake."

"What the hell do you want?"

"I _want _you to thank me"

"Thank you for what?! For trying to kill me?!"

"For _saving your life!_"

"I'm not thanking you for that. Why would you try to kill me then save my damn life?!"

"I wasn't trying to kill _you!_"

"What?"

"I was trying to kill your Pokemon. That Celebi and that Kabutops."

"Why the hell-?!"

"You'd be surprised. Rare Pokemon corpses – depending on the species – can actually be a lot more expensive than the live ones. Celebi and Kabutops are included."

"You were going to sell my Pokemon after you _killed them?!_" I sat up and swung at him. My fist connected with the side of his face and he toppled over. When he stood, there was blood running from his nose. He chuckled and stepped out of the room.

When Sakura came back, I was still sitting up, with my fists clenched, panting in anger. "Taka, what's wrong?" She noticed the blood on the floor,"Oh my god, Taka what happened?!"

"The guy who put me in the coma… Ikusaba… came in here…"

"What did he do?!"

"He wanted me to thank him! For trying to kill me!" Sakura ran out of the room and ran down the hallway. I didn't know what she was doing until I heard an announcement over the loudspeakers. _Can an Ikusaba please come to the front desk._ I internally face-palmed. Why the hell would he go to the front desk just to be confronted? Soon after, Sakura walked in with a confused look on her face.

"Why didn't he come? How rude is he?" The anger seemed to just faded away and I began to laugh. "What?"

"Of course he's rude!" I laughed,"He came in and confronted _me _about him attacking me." She started to giggle.

A nurse walked in while we were laughing and we stopped. "Uh… Takashi, you are free to leave whenever you are ready."

I slipped on my clothes and put my bag over my shoulder. Sakura stepped up next to me and we stepped out of the Hospital and into the Rustboro City streets. Almost as soon as we stepped onto the street, we saw two thugs dressed in crimson attacking a woman. I went to grab a Pokeball, but there were none in my bag. "Sakura, you got any with you?"

"Yep!" She smiled and released her Pokemon. A humanoid creature taller than me appeared. "Machoke! Low Kick!" She called,"Taka, I'll deal with these guys, you go get Kabutops!"

I ran into the Pokemon centre and the nurse at the counter knew who I was immediately. "Takashi, you're awake. I'll go get your Pokemon." She stepped into the back room and returned with three Pokeballs. The three contained the three Pokemon I owned. Kabutops, Celebi and Dusclops.

"Thank you" I said with a smile, grabbing the Pokemon and running out.

"Come back any time!" The nurse called so I could hear.

When I got back to Sakura, the thugs were on the ground, with Machoke standing over them. "They're with Team Magma!"

"Did Magma not get disbanded after Maxie's death?!"

"Oh yeah, you were asleep… They promoted an Admin to Boss! And he's made Magma even weirder than before!" One of the Magma member's kicked Machoke and stood up. He released a Pokemon from a ball and started his introduction.

"I'm Magma Admin Suzuki – next in line for Boss." he said with a mean smirk. The Pokemon that stood next to him was a Donphan.

I grabbed a Pokeball that I had recovered from the Pokemon Centre and threw it down. Kabutops emerged and began his attack pre-emptively. He swung his scythe arm over the Donphan's head and into it's back, lodging in. The elephant lifted Kabutops up with it's horns, with the scythe still lodged in the Donphan's back. Donphan threw Kabutops backwards, and into the Devon building. I ran through the doorway of the skyscraper and raced for the stairs. When I reached the second floor, I found Kabutops jump back through the hole he was thrown through.

I stepped up to the hole and watched the battle below. First Kabutops had the advantage, then Donphan. The fight continued for about ten minutes. The two lunged at each other with raised scythes and horns. When they connected, a streak of lightning came from the sky and hit them both. They were thrown back further than the eyes could see. Far past Route 104. Smoke erected from where the lightning had hit, and a dark figure could be seen through it. People had already gathered around the fight, but now, what must have been every citizen of Rustboro City was crowded around the smoke.

The mist faded and the figure became clear. It wasn't a human. It's skin was white, but a purple tint extended over it. The purple became much brighter when it reached the tail. The head had stiff ears extending upwards on either side and it's fingers were large and rounded. It stood up straight and grunted with a deep voice. It seemed as if it was going to attack, but shot into the air and flew towards Route 104, where Kabutops and Donphan had landed. I ran after it, realising that Kabutops could be in a great deal of danger.

After I had left the city, I reached the bridge, which had been completely obliterated. It was as if it had never been there. Above Petalburg Forest, the creature that had landed in Rustboro could be seen flying towards Littleroot town, with Kabutops and Donphan – enveloped in purple light – flying behind it.

I ran back to Rustboro and found Sakura and Dad. "What was that thing?" Sakura asked me.

"I have no idea; but it stole Kabutops"

"What?" Dad frowned.

"I made it to the lake… The bridge had collapsed… But I saw that thing with Kabutops and Donphan heading towards Littleroot town." Magma Admin Suzuki overheard what I had just said and ran towards the lake like I had. "We need to get to Littleroot. We need something to fly."

"I might have something," The voice was familiar. A voice that I hadn't heard in a long time. I turned to see Genya Ito.

"Oh my god, Genya!" Sakura looked at me confused.

"Who?" She whispered.

"You know, we met him last year on Route 127…"

"Hm?"

"You caught your Machop, then he came down the mountain…"

"Oh… Oh! Genya! Oh my god!" I got back to what was happening.

"So what were you saying about maybe having something?"

Genya took out a Great Ball from his bag and released the Pokemon inside. What emerged was a Pokemon I had never seen before. "This is Archeops! Got 'im in the Unova region!"

"Will he get us across to Littleroot?"

"I can get you as far as Petalburg forest… Sorry, I've got stuff to do"

"It's ok, we can get to Littleroot from there"

We couldn't all fit on the bird, so Sakura stayed behind, and Dad, Genya and I went. We landed at the entrance to the forest and Genya flew towards Mt Pyre. Dad and I took one step into the forest and knew that the creature had done something terrible in here. Multiple bug catchers were unconscious on the ground and various Pokemon had evidently been killed.

"What did that thing do in here?" My voice seemed loud in the quiet forest.

"Oh my god"

"What?"

"That thing… I remember it…"

"The thing that took Kabutops?"

"It's from the Kanto region. Created unnaturally."

"What do you mean unnaturally?"

"It was created on Cinnabar Island in the Pokemon Mansion. That's why it's destroyed. They were trying to clone a Pokemon they found in a jungle… And they made _that_." He took a long pause,"Mewtwo."

**To Be Continued**


	6. Yuudai and Briney

We made it to Oldale town. Mewtwo had obviously come through here. No one was hurt, but there was damage. The garden on the bottom left corner of the town was completely destroyed. We had no time to stay, so we began our trek for Littleroot town. Route 101 was surprisingly intact. Mewtwo probably flew high enough above it to leave it undamaged.

We looked around at all the low levelled Pokemon that roamed this area. Well, this was an area that a lot of new trainers began. They would come through here and level up their first Pokemon, or catch some new ones. My train of thought flew off the tracks when I heard a scream. It was of a man bearing a deep voice. I had heard it before. A long time ago. Dad and I began to jog, and then run. We emerged from the tall grass to see a large man in a white lab coat and shorts being chased around in a circle by a Poocheyena.

The man stopped running and the Poocheyena stopped in front of him and growled. He saw us and yelled,"Help Me!" I grabbed a Pokeball from my bag and threw it down. Dusclops appeared and began to create a shadow ball pre-emptively. I ordered the attack and the darkness trailed towards the dog. Before the ball hit, the Poocheyena looked at me. It's eyes were purely lavender, and had no pupils. The dog shot to the side and avoided the attack. It darted at the ghost but flew straight through it.

"Dusclops," I called,"Pursuit!" The ghost disappeared, but Poocheyena seemed to realise what was happening and dashed to the side. Dusclops reappeared where the dog had been standing, and seemed confused.

Dusclops collapsed onto the ground in confusion. I hesitated in calling out an attack as I was afraid it would just hurt itself in the process. Poocheyena emerged from the tall grass again and its fangs were red with fire. The flames caught onto Dusclops and he was set ablaze. I grabbed my third Pokeball from my bag and released my final Pokemon. Celebi began to shine a pale light and the fire was gone almost instantly. Dusclops stood and rose its hand. Celebi flew in line with the ghosts hand and was sent flying towards Poocheyena. It hit straight on and the dog collapsed, its eyes returning to normal. I called my two Pokemon back.

The man approached us with a smile on his face. "Thank you so much! I'm professor Birch!"

"I'm Takashi Sugimori, and this is my father. I've heard about you… You're the guy that studies Pokemon's habitats right?"

"Indeed I am! How nice it is to meet you!" A strong wind blew through the route, and a dark figure exited Littleroot town, accompanied by a Donphan and my Kabutops. They had lavender eyes matching the Poocheyena's. Mewtwo raised a hand and the collapsed fog was lifted into the air. He threw his hand to the side and the Poocheyena was thrown into the trees that made up the boundaries of the route.

"These puppets are too weak." Mewtwo had a surprisingly deep voice,"I need a stronger host for my power." When I saw the state Kabutops was in, I started to become angry.

"What the hell are you doing to my Pokemon?!"

"Your Kabutops is alright. No harm has come to him."

"Then give him the hell back!"

"I will give him back for a price."

"What do you want?!"

"I need a stronger host. Bring me this and I will give you back your Pokemon."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"A Pokemon cannot hold the amount of power that I hold. I need a human's body."

Silence overcame us. Mewtwo was asking me to give him a human body to possess. But I needed to. I needed Kabutops back. "Ok."

"Takashi, no!" Dad yelled.

"Dad. I have to. We don't know what that thing is gonna do to Kabutops!"

"I know… but-"

"There is no other way!"

"We can kill Mewtwo-"

"If you try to kill me, I will destroy everything." Mewtwo said such destructive things in such a calm voice.

"Dad… I need to…"

He fell silent.

"Go. Find me a suitable host." Mewtwo raised his hand and all three of us, Dad, Professor Birch and I, were enveloped in a pale purple light. It clouded my vision, and when I emerged from it, I was separated from the group. I was in Mauville City.

I ran to Route 110 and looked over the lake to see the destroyed Slateport City. "Takashi?" I turned to see a 16 year old boy with black hair wearing the brightest blue shirt you've ever seen.

"Oh my God, Yuudai?" Yuudai Sugimori, my cousin and brother of two. We were really close when we were younger. His two siblings, Hamada and Kaori, who both moved away to the Sinnoh region a couple of years ago. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to see ya! I heard about all the stuff that happened in Slateport… you okay?"

We settled into the Pokemon centre, and we released our Pokemon – our Pokemon that _weren't _kidnapped. Yuudai's Pokemon were a lot stronger than they were the last time I had seen them. I remembered how when we were younger, Yuudai didn't like battling, he wanted to get a job at the daycare on Route 117 and become a Pokemon Breeder. He had three Pokemon – Gabite, Swampert and Azumarill.

"Where's Kabutops?" he asked bearing a confused face.

"Oh, uh…. It's a long story…"

"Oh… sorry… may he rest in peac-"

"He didn't die!"

"Oh… then what?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

We set out to Rustboro city. I had one goal in mind. Saving Kabutops. And how was I going to do this? Get Mewtwo a new body. That's where Yuudai would come in. "So why do you want to go to Littleroot town so bad?"

"Oh, uh… errands… yeah, errands."

"cant it wait until we can go the short way?"

"You want to wait until they've rebuilt Slateport?"

"Exactly." he said with a smile.

"It can't wait."

"Alright then…"

We were almost to Verdenturf when we passed by the daycare centre. "Oh," Yuudai stopped walking and turned to grab the door,"I've just gotta drop in for a bit"

"Wait… Yuudai, did you get the job here?"

"Yeah!" he said with a big smile,"about a month ago!" I needed to stop being happy for him if I was going to give him up to Mewtwo.

"Okay then, I'm gonna go on ahead to Verdenturf, meet me at the Pokemon Centre there in an hour!"

"Sure thing!"

The Verdenturf Pokemon Centre was surprisingly cosy. It was definitely the cosiest Centre I had ever been to, and not just in Hoenn. The Nurse healed my Pokemon, and I still had some time to kill before Yuudai got there, so I went to the Contest site nextdoor.

The Skill Competition finals, from last year, were playing on the TV.

It was between Ushio Tanaka – the guy who had beaten me in my first (and last) contest of the tournament – and Ruby Flare, a guy from Littleroot town who had become the Hoenn League Champion earlier that year.

Ruby ultimately won, with his mighty Blaziken beside him. I had heard that he was somehow related to Professor Birch…

I checked the time, and it had almost been an hour, so I headed back to the Pokemon Centre. Yuudai wasn't waiting for me there… Ikusaba was.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here." He snickered.

"What the hell are you doing here, asshole?"

"Thought you might want this." He threw me a Hunter Badge, from that PHI group he was in.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"Thought you might be good at it. Think about it." He turned to walk away; but then I had a much better idea. One that didn't involve giving Yuudai up to Mewtwo.

"Wait…"

"Hm?"

"I'll join you. On one condition."

"Yeah?"

"You come with me to Littleroot town for business. It'll be worth your while."

"How so?"

"There's a rare Pokemon there."

Yuudai entered the Centre as Ikusaba and I were discussing details. "Hey! Who's your friend?" It pained me to have to pretend Ikusaba was my friend, but I needed to.

"This is Hikaru Ikusaba. He's gonna help me with the erands, so you don't have to come anymore."

Yuudai shook Ikusaba's hand,"You said it couldn't wait, so I'm coming. I'm Yuudai Sugimori, by the way."

"Are you two brothers or something?" Ikusaba spoke up.

"Cousins."

And so the three of us, Takashi, Hikaru and Yuudai, were on our way to Littleroot town just so one of us could be offered to a power hungry beast. It was great.

Next, we needed to make our way through Rusturf Tunnel, which connected Verdenturf town and Rustboro city. The tunnel was fogged dirty. "Tsk," Ikusaba made a smug face, "It's horrible in here."

"Oh, woe is you." Yuudai laughed at my remark.

"Shut u-" Ikusaba suddenly remembered our agreement and stopped what he was saying. I had also forgotten. Just when Yuudai began feeling strange about our supposed friendship, we heard the voice of a young man, accompanied by the screams of a Wingull.

"Shut up, you stupid bird!" When we drew closer, we saw that the man was a Team Aqua grunt.

"Aqua!" Ikusaba and I could agree on something; Team Aqua and Team Magma sucked.

"Aqua?" Yuudai had never been into the news, so he had never heard of anything about Team Aqua, Magma, Rocket, or any other criminal teams in the world.

"Just attack 'im!" I called out Dusclops, and ordered an attack on the grunt. A burst of darkness shot from Dusclops' dismembered hands, and the grunt was thrown into the wall. Yuudai picked up the injured Wingull, and we began running for the exit.

On the other side, Yuudai checked the Wingull for injuries. "It's left wing is broken…"  
"Is it wild?"

"I'm not sure. It doesn't seem to have any signs of ownership."  
"Peeko?!" An old man came running from Rustboro city. His eyes met the Wingull with Yuudai. "Peeko!" The Man didn't realise Yuudai was treating Peeko, and hit him on the head with his walking stick.

"Woah, woah!" I calmed the man down. "Is this your Wingull?"

"Yes. Her name is Peeko… That damned Team Magma stole her from me…"

"Why the hell are they stealing citizens Pokemon?"

"I don't know… Those bastards…"

The Old Man left with Peeko, and we continued on with our trek.

We made it to the end of the route, and into the city. Here we were greeted by scared citizens still shaken by Mewtwo's landing a few days earlier. The crater where the beast hit was still exactly the same as when we had left it. I suddenly remembered that the bridge to Petalburg woods would still be destroyed.

When we went to the lake south of the city, the Old Man from earlier was waiting for us. A boat was in the water behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Ever since the mystery man from the sky destroyed the bridge, I've been running this ferry business for the citizens of Rustboro! Normally, I'd charge 100. But since you helped get Peeko back, I'll wave the fee."  
"Thank you, so much."

"You're very welcome. The name's Briney."

"Nice to meet you Briney." Ikusaba was annoyed at our gratefulness to Briney, so he decided to speak up.

"Let's skip the formalities. Can we go over, or not?"  
"Of course, my lad!"

Briney helped us across the river in his ship, Peeko perched majestically at the front. The view of the woods from the lake was splendid. It was a shame that that would be ruined by the petrified bodies when we walked in.

We exited Briney's ship, thanked him, and left. We entered the woods to see exactly what we were expecting. The forest was quiet, and the bodies of Pokemon, Bug Catchers and other trainers were sprawled across the ground everywhere. "Well this is creepy…" I realised Yuudai probably hadn't heard about everything with Mewtwo yet, so he wouldn't know what was going on in the woods.

"Uh… Yeah. Really creepy. Wonder what's wrong…" The awkward silence was finally lifted when we reached Petalburg city.

It was very late by the time we got to the city, so we stayed the night at the Pokemon Centre. Our Pokemon were healed, and we were rested.

We woke early, at 5AM, and we left for Oldale town. Route 102 was similar to Petalburg woods, so Yuudai was getting more creeped out every step we took. I tried to act surprised to adhere to Yuudai's knowledge, but I was more in the loop than anybody.

I remembered the possessed Poocheyena attack on my way here the first time, and I held my Dusclops' Pokeball in my hand as we walked. Just as I had feared, we were attacked by a Mighteyena with bright pink eyes. "Dusclops," I threw the ball onto the ground, "Shadow Ball!" The darkness charged in it's hand as Yuudai called out his Swampert. The shadow ball connected, barely affecting the hound. Swampert attacked with no order, almost like it was linked telepathically with Yuudai. The Muddy Water attack hit directly, and virtually the entire route was covered in a layer of dirty water. This slowed the Mighteyena down significantly. "Shadow Claw!" The ghost's hand formed sharp talons, swiping at the dog. Swampert finished Mighteyena off with a Hydro Pump.

When we reached Oldale town, Ikusaba said that he had some errands to run before we continued, so Yuudai and I stayed at the Pokemon Centre for a while. Hikaru made his way into the PokeMart. I wasn't sure what he was doing in there, but I could tell it was shifty.

He emerged from the Mart an hour later, with no supplies whatsoever. "What were you doing in there?"

"None of your business." I signalled to Yuudai.

"We are _friends _remembered."  
"I was running _errands_."

"_What _errands..?"

"Errands for… for my grandma."  
"For you grandma?"

"Yep."

"Ok, fine."

We resumed our travels, and my heart rate raised with every step closer to Littleroot. I was going to offer Ikusaba to a power hungry beast. I still didn't even know where Dad or Professor Birch were.

We drew closer and closer to the town, the sense that something was wrong sinking deeper and deeper into Yuudai. We could see Littleroot over the hill now, and we heard something behind us. All three of us assumed it was another possessed Pokemon, but, to our surprise, it was Professor Birch. When he caught up to us, he bent over panting. "I… I….. I finally… caught up…"

"Professor?"

"I have…. Been following you three… since Petalburg…"

"How slow are you?"

"_Hikaru!_"

We stepped into Littleroot. Mewtwo descended from the sky, and landed softly onto the ground in front of us. "So… Have you found me a host?"

"A host?" Yuudai's suspicions confirmed themselves in his mind.  
"Yes. He's right here." I pointed to Hikaru.

"What the hell?! What are you talking about?! Host?!"

"Thank you, Sugimori. You have done well. I can feel the power within him." Mewtwo raised his hands, and Ikusaba bagan running from Littleroot. It was no use, Mewtwo punched forward, and Hikaru had collapsed. I looked over at Yuudai, who was staring at me with a horrified expression on his face.

"Wh-what have you done? Y-your friend…"

"That _bastard _is _not _my friend."  
"What the hell are you talking about? Did you hit your head Taka?"

"It's very complicated, Yuudai. Please let me explain."

"You don't need to." Yuudai retreated deeper into the town. I had to let him go.

I turned back to Mewtwo and Ikusaba. Mewtwo called over my Kabutops, and ordered it to kill Hikaru. Kabutops used it's scythe hand to stab Hikaru through the chest. He died instantly. Mewtwo did as he had promised. He released Kabutops from the spell. Kabutops was so worn out that he collapsed immediately. Mewtwo completed the process, and merged his body with Ikusaba's. I had given the beast a host. Mewtwo demonstrated his shapeshifting ability, going back and forth between his Pokemon and Human forms. I had truly created a monster.

**To be continued…**


	7. Birch and Sapphire

For the week after I gave up Ikusaba to Mewtwo, I wandered Littleroot. I remember visiting the town years and years ago. When we moved to Hoenn from Kanto, we were originally going to move into one of the houses there, but another family got it.

Every day, I visited Mewtwo-Ikusaba, who Professor Birch was taking care of in his lab. Yuudai had left after I gave Ikusaba up, and went back to Mauville City. When Mewtwo merged with Ikusaba, he gained the ability to shapeshift between his two forms, Pokemon, and Human. While in Pokemon form, he was as he was before. In his human form, he took on the memories and personalities of Hikaru Ikusaba, but still mixed with Mewtwo's. His psychic powers were also retained in this form, too.

Birch had him strapped down, and attached to a lot of equipment, to monitor his condition. Every day, when I left the lab, I went to the house we were meant to buy all those years ago and visit the family that lived there. That was where I was staying. The family consisted of three. The Petalburg City gym leader, Norman, a young Pokemon trainer named Sapphire, and her mother.

When I got back from the lab, I went out to Route 101 with Sapphire and helped her train her Treeko. We also aimed to get Treeko up at least one level a day. In return, Norman helped me train Kabutops and Dusclops. Dusclops was a bit harder to train, given that Norman specialized in Normal types. By the end of the week, Kabutops was a lot stronger than he had been. Birch said that he had to be at least level seventy, judging by his tests.

On the first day of my second week in Littleroot, Birch noticed something wrong with my Pokemon. He believed that both Kabutops and Dusclops had contracted Pokerus. "Pokerus is a very helpful virus transferred only between Pokemon. It can help with experience grinding and such. I'd be interested to see if Hikaru here could contract the disease."

"So then I could level up Dusclops faster then?"

"I'd say so, yes."

When I got back from the lab, and before I went to Route 101, I told Norman about the virus. "Amazing. I recall my Slacking contracting it a while back."

"That why it's so damn strong?"

"Indeed it is."

After that, Sapphire and I met on Route 101 for our daily training session. She sent out Treeko, and encountered a Zigzagoon, and she began to battle with it. While she was distracted with the battle, I released both Kabutops and Dusclops. I was planning on having them infect Treeko with Pokerus, which would cut the training time virtually in half.

Midway through the battle, Treeko became determined, and adrenalin began pumping through it's veins. The Pokemon had been infected. "Pound!" Sapphire somehow also seemed more determined now. The gecko collided into Zigzagoon, sending it backwards fainted. "Yeah! Beat it!" We high fived before we noticed the white light that had enveloped Treeko.

The light shone brighter, almost too bright to look at. Treeko began to change shape. "Oh my god…" Sapphire had never witnessed Pokemon evolution before, "It's beautiful…" I thought back to my first Pokemon evolution. I was six years old. I was down on the Slateport shore, battling tubers. Kabuto began to glow, and became the Kabutops I grew to love.

After a few minutes, the evolution was complete, and Grovyle stood before her. "I… I did it!" Sapphire ran immediately back into town, her Grovyle following her. I followed their trail, into her house. I found her dancing around her living room with her parents and Grovyle. My work with her was done.

I slipped out before they noticed me there, and I visited Professor Birch's laboratory one more time. He was engrossed in his work. It seemed that he had succeeded in his Pokerus theory. "Takashi!" He ran up to me with excitement in his voice, "I have succeeded! I have infected Mewtwo-Ikusaba with Pokerus!"

"Um… Good job?"

"You don't sound excited…"

"Well is it really a good idea to do that to… it? I mean, Mewtwo was pretty bad, and that's just what we _saw _of it. But then Ikusaba, he was an actual criminal. You realise that right?"

"But… don't you think what happened to them would have changed them?"

"No. Did you actually have to spend any time at all with either of them?"

"No, but…"

"But nothing. You need to find a way to cure it."

"I… I'm not sure I can…"

"Well you need to find some way!"

"I-I-I… I don't know how…" I pushed Birch to the side and approached the infected monstrosity and tried to rip all of the tubes from under it's skin, but they were stuck, being held in by the creature's tight skin.

"God damn it! What the hell're we gonna do?!"

"I- I'm sure we'll be alright…"

"You _know _that's not true!"

"Well I don't know what you _expect _me to do!"

"Reverse it!"

"How many times do I have to say it?! I don't know _how!_"

The lab was evacuated, and the walls and roof were reinforced. We didn't want another Slateport on our hands. We expected Mewtwo-Ikusaba to use Pokerus to its advantage, to become level 100, and to destroy the town. I waited for Sapphire to come back to her house before I entered Route 101. When I reached the first patch of tall grass, the sound of Mewtwo waking and trying to escape the lab turned me back.

I released Kabutops, and we ran back to Birch's house. Sapphire and the Professor joined me outside, each releasing a Pokemon of their own. Sapphire releasing Grovyle, and the Professor releasing Swampert. We made our way to the lab, each taking a different spot around the building. Each bang of the walls came with a flinche, hoping that we were not hit by Mewtwo or debris.

Finally, Mewtwo crashed through the ceiling of the lab, and landed on an intact portion of roof. Mewtwo shifted into Ikusaba, who wore an angry face. He turned to me, his face turning red with anger. "You bastard!" With this remark, Kabutops sprung off the ground, landing next to Ikusaba, who, in an instant, was Mewtwo again. The two fought on the roof, each gaining advantage with every attack. Kabutops swiped at Mewtwo, the beast dodging the move and countered with its own, connecting with Kabutops' head. Kabutops toppled over, Mewtwo climbing onto the flat body, sending a barrage of Shadow Ball attacks at close range.

Sapphire ordered Grovyle to join the battle, distracting Mewtwo with a series of weak Leaf Blades. This gave Kabutops just enough time to stand again, and catch Mewtwo in the back with a Slash. Mewtwo gave a growl, and was hit with a powerful Hydro Pump from the Professor's Swampert. The attack sent Mewtwo off of the building, and crashing into the trees that surrounded the town. Kabutops and Grovyle joined Mewtwo, and hit it with a series of Leaf Blade and Slash attacks.

It seemed that Mewtwo was defeated, so Sapphire, Birch and I recalled our Pokemon, and were about to pick up the defeated monster's body, when Mewtwo awoke, and sent us flying backwards with an extremely powerful Psychic attack. I managed to release Dusclops, who began to fight without instruction.

Dusclops fired two shadow balls, which Mewtwo absorbed, and countered with its own. The ghost dodged, swiping at Mewtwo's head. Its hand connected, and he it was thrown to the side. It collided with a small tree. I managed to stand, and I recalled Dusclops, re-releasing Kabutops.

"Give it hell, Kabutops!" The brown plated beast sprung from the ground and onto the fallen body of Mewtwo, digging it's scythe hands into its torso. Mewtwo made a noise that resembled a scream, and exploded in a blast of energy. Dust cleared, and Kabutops was lying in front of the standing Mewtwo, still. Mewtwo grunted, and darted into the air, so quickly that it was impossible to see it. I recalled Kabutops and ran to Sapphire and Birch.

"Are you guys alright?" Birch sat up with a painful grunt.

"I- I think so… Is Sapphire okay?" I turned to Sapphire, who still hadn't woken up. I shook her a few times and then took her home.

Her parents took her in, and Birch and I retreated back to his own house. We sat down at the downstairs table, and began discussing the most recent attack. "I told you that it wasn't a good idea." Birch frowned.

"I _know_. I made a mistake."

"Yeah, well, this mistake could cost lives. A _lot _of lives."

"We need to find a way to detain it. It's too powerful… I think ive heard of a device that dampens the powers of Pokemon… Somewhere in the Johto region…"

"How do we get it?"

"Well, we'll need to go there."

"I'll go. You stay here, make sure Mewtwo doesn't destroy anything else."

"O-Ok… You know what? My son is coming into town later this week. Let him go with you. He's a _very _talented trainer."

"Ruby?!"

"Yes, do you know him?"

"Do I _know _him? _Everyone _does. He was the champion! He beat Steven!" Birch wore a smile that reached both his ears.

"Ah, yes. I remember when Ruby first began. He came out to me on Route 101 – I was doing some field work – and I was being chased by a Poocheyena, much like how _we _met. He took his Torchic out of my bag and fought it off. Then he started his journey, collected all 8 gym badges, and beat the Pokemon League Champion in battle."

"So he's coming later this week?"

"In two days, yes."

"Then I guess we're going to the Johto region."

**To be Continued…**


	8. Barry and Wally

Ruby and I boarded the Lilycove ferry bound for Johto. The professor waved us off, watching up until the boat faded into the distance. It was late afternoon, and it would take about two days to reach the Johto region. I suddenly felt a wave of excitement, going on a journey with the Pokemon League Champion. And not just any League Champion – but the one that beat Steven. I realised he must be extremely skilled to be able to pull off such a feat. "So, Takashi, is it?"

"Uh- Yeah, yeah. Takashi Sugimori." I held out a hand and we shook, "I have to say, Ruby, it's an honour to meet you."

"Really? Why?"

"You beat Steven! That's amazing!"

"I don't know, I bet you could do it. Dad told me about you and your Dusclops. And don't even get me started on your Kabutops. Seriously, man, we're battling when this is all over."

The ferry's intercom sounded:  
_Hello everyone, this is your Captain speaking. Thank you for choosing Lilycove Harbour.  
_Well we couldn't exactly choose Slateport Harbour.  
_We will be arriving in Olivine City in just two short days. Dinner will be served at 7PM, Bed will be at 9PM, and breakfast will be at 6AM. Thank you, and have a good trip._

At 6:30PM, Ruby and I were in our room waiting for dinner time. We lay on our beds talking. We talked about our journeys, people we had met, and the journey ahead of us. Apparently the item we were searching for was called an 'Intensity Filter', a device developed by the Silph Corporation. Ruby told me about a villainous team much like Team Aqua and Magma, called Team Rocket, that used to operate around the Kanto and Johto regions, but disbanded a few years before.

Our talking passed the time quickly, and it was 7PM. We exited our room and boarded the main deck, where dinner was being served. The main course was made up of roast Tauros, Torterra trimmings and Cherubi. Entertainment by the famous Sinnoh gym leader Fantina was provided, and Ruby and I talked more. "You ever been to Sinnoh?" He ended his sentence with a mouthful of Tauros.

"Nah. Been to Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. Used to live in Kanto for a matter of fact."

"I think Sapphire's family used to live in Johto…"

"We just visited because of how close it was to Kanto."

"Well I was born and raised in Hoenn. Started my journey a few years back with my Torchic. Long story short, I'm the champion! How about you? What's your story?"

"Hmmm… Well, as you know, I came from Kanto. Then we moved up to Slateport and I became-"

"Oh… I'm so sorry…"

"It's alright. Well in Slateport I became a Pokemon Skill Coordinator. Then about two years ago now, at the 2013 tournament, the site was attacked by Team Magma. I haven't even been to another competition since. Up until now, I've just been training my Pokemon, and, as you know, chasing Mewtwo around the country."

"Nice. Sorry about Slateport, though. Wait… were you the guy they found unconscious in the middle of Slateport just after the attack? And was in a coma for ages?"

"Yeah, that was me."

"My _god _you are amazing."

"Heh, speak for yourself." We finished our meal, talking about our history, and went back to our room and got some sleep.

In the morning, we boarded the main deck once again for breakfast at 6AM. Exeggcute and fried spoink was served. Ruby and I sat with a group of other trainers due to a lack of seating. "My name's Barry! Comin' in from the Sinnoh region! Wait… aren't you like the Pokemon League Champion or somethin'?" Ruby let out a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah. I can't believe how many people recognise me now."

"You probably know my Dad then! He comes over to Hoenn to challenge your League all the time! He beat Cynthia a bunch of times! His name's Palmer!"

"Yeah, he's challenged me a couple of times. He hasn't managed to beat me yet, though."

"Damn. BUT AWESOME! I can't believe I'm talking to someone who can beat my DAD! Well there's my friend back in Sinnoh…" Another trainer spoke up:

"I'm Wally… I'm from Petalburg. I challenged the Hoenn Elite Four before you beat Steven… I couldn't seem to beat Drake…"

"Oh yeah… You were always helping out Norman weren't you?"

"Well, more like the other way around, but… I guess that's accurate…" We finished our breakfast and settled in for the day. At about 12AM we met back up with Barry and Wally.

Many trainers were trading Pokemon in order to fill in their Pokedex's, and to strengthen their teams to challenge the Johto League.

Ruby and Barry traded a few of their weaker Pokemon, and Wally and I talked.

About half an hour later, everything was stopped by gunshots.

Ruby, Barry and I stormed into the Captain's room, Wally staying behind. We had all released our Pokemon: Blaziken, Torterra and Kabutops respectively. We entered to find the body of the captain, underneath two men dressed in all black. Ruby gritted his teeth, "Team Rocket…"

"What did you bastards do?!"

"Heh, heh… don't worry. We didn't kill him, he's just unconscious." The first grunt pointed the gun at me. "We're Team Rocket, Pokemon gansters."

"Kabutops, Aqua Jet!" The brown plated beast darted forward, summoning a puff of water through from its mouth. The Rocket grunt strategically avoided the attack and shot Kabutops. The bullet bounced off Kabutops' hard shell, with the beast countering with a Slash attack. The Scythe arm connected with the gun, knocking it out of the grunt's hand, and onto the floor. When the gun dropped, it fired, shooting me in the leg. I tumbled over with a pained scream, Barry kneeling down to help.

Before I knew it, I was lying in a bed in the Nurse's room, the Captain next to me. I sat up, pain returning to my leg. My pant leg was rolled up, revealing the heavily bandaged wound. I looked over at the Captain, bandages all up his left arm. The Nurse turned around, "Ah, Takashi. You're awake." I turned my head, surprised at how much my leg hurt.

"Wh-what happened…?"

"Team Rocket attacked the ship… This is the third ferry in a month… We stopped them before they could hijack the ship, but, the Captain is in bad shape. We're going to have to stop of in the Sevii Islands."

"The Sevii Islands? No. We need to get to Johto, quickly. Lives are at stake."

"I'm sorry, but we have to stop… We don't have a Captain."

"Son of a…"

"We'll see what we can do, but don't get your hopes up."

I was made to stay in the bed until we arrived in the Sevii Islands, and at 3PM, we had landed. Ruby and Barry helped me off the boat, and we were allowed to stay in the Pokemon Centre on One Island. According to a group of people in the Centre, something like Mewtwo's landing two weeks earlier in Rustboro also happened here at the same time, but no one had seen it. They said a dark object fell from the sky, into the ocean, and created a small island, but everyone was too scared to get too close.

Ruby, Barry, Wally and I set out to find the island, renting a four-person boat. The island, which had been dubbed "Birth Island" by the locals, was apparently to the east of Three Island. We set out for the Island, and didn't talk on the way there.

The ride took about an hour, and we arrived on Three Island. There was a small group of tourists – looking at them, they were probably from Kalos – standing on the shore of the Island. They were looking out across the sea, where Birth Island could be seen. "So that's where the object landed?"

"I guess."

"So no one's gone over there?"

"Nope. Let's go see why not." We made our way to Birth Island on our boat, landing on the side that most resembled shore.

We dismounted, making our way to the middle of the Island, finding a large black triangle lying flat in the dirt. "What is it?" Wally asked.

"I don't know…" Barry leaned down to examine it. "Wait. I've got it!"

"What?"

"It's a Triangle." Barry laughed at his own stupidity and Wally kicked his shin, causing him to fall over, holding his leg.

"What the hell!" Wally smiled at Barry, still lying in the dirt squirming.

"We need to be serious." Barry stood himself up, allowing Ruby to examine the triangle. He reached out, but I grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Ruby, we don't know what might happen! If we're gonna try and move it, we better at least release our Pokemon. I've gone through enough lately; I've learned that Pokemon help a _lot_."

"Yeah, you're probably right…" I released Kabutops and Dusclops, Barry released Torterra, Wally released Kirlia and Ruby released Blaziken and Tropius. Ruby reached out both hands, sliding one under the triangle on each side. Ruby grunted as he lifted it. As soon as it left the dirt, light shone from the ground, and a mutated blob of Green and Orange spilled out. Ruby jumped back.

"What the hell?!" Ruby, Barry, Wally and I all retreated backwards, letting our Pokemon take over. The blob changed itself, morphing into a humanoid shape. It's eyes were white and beady, it's arms like strands of DNA. It's legs didn't end in feet, but were rounded, letting it levitate. It bent it's DNA arms, which again morphed, forming human like hands.

A blue orb appeared in front of the hands, almost immediately shooting out and colliding with Blaziken. The bird was thrown back what looked like one hundred metres, and fell into the ocean. "Blaziken!" Ruby ran towards the shore and dived. Tropius trailed behind, scooping Blaziken up, and catchng Ruby along the way. He brought them both back to the Island, and they lay down to rest.

"Kabutops, Hydro Pump! Dusclops, Will-O-Wisp!" I called. The others ordered their own Pokemon, every attack being deflected by the monster's own. "What the _hell _is this thing?!"

"I don't know, but its damn strong!" Kirlia used a graceful combination of Psychic and Fighting moves. Kirlia's was the first attack to hit, making the creature's eyes frown. It's humanoid shape moulded into another, it's skin becoming much thicker, and its human like arms splitting in two. The only thing that stayed the same was the face. "Is this some sort of defensive form?!" Blaziken seemed ready to fight again, and it charged in and used a Flame Kick attack.

The creature, now knee deep in water after being kicked into the ocean, changed form once again. Its entire body became much thinner and sleek. Its colour scheme eliminated almost all green, leaving just black and orange. In this form, it was much quicker, and, in a flash, it was right next to Blaziken again. Startled, the bird became confused.

The monster finally morphed into a fourth form – not so different from its "Speed" form – but a mix between it and its "Defence" form: A thin body, but skin still thick. The arms were once again split in two on each side, with its face unchanged.

Torterra finally made its first move. Its feet stomped on the ground, cracking the earth, but effecting only us due to the monster's ability to levitate. "Torterra!" Barry wailed. "God Dammit!" He ran to the beast clumsily, and crashed into it with a loud _thud_!

Dusclops sent a barrage of Shadow Balls while Kabutops sent a Hydro Pump. No attack hit, but Tropius was about to re-enter the battle from behind. It swooped in, catching the monster by surprise and knocking it over. It morphed into its original form, and Kabutops pounced. The scythe arm ran smoothly through its body, and came out clean. Kabutops kept stabbing with no better result. Although it wasn't fighting anymore, the monster wasn't just going to let itself be completely defeated.

We noticed a green tint over its body, and eventually realised that it was healing itself. "Hydro Pump, Kabutops!" The high pressure stream burst out suddenly, and when the water sunk into the ground, the monster was gone. We turned around to see the monster back in its "Speed" form, and it darted back off in the direction of Hoenn. "God _Dammit!_"

We made it back to One Island, where the rest of the cruise participants were, and they were all gathered into the boat. "Everyone, the boat is now ready for departure! Please board the ship so we can get to Johto as soon as possible!"

"Ruby, come on! We need to get the damn Intensity Filter, quickly." Ruby nodded, and the four of us boarded.


End file.
